Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan and City Council President Dave Rollo proposed an ordinance Tuesday that would restrict how the city's tax increment financing, or TIF, dollars are spent.
TIFs are special districts the city designates so it can capture property tax dollars and use them for redevelopment projects.
The proposed restrictions mirror policies Kruzan added last year to the City Financial Policies Manual—which was created in April 2014 to add more financial controls and oversight— in attempt to deter theft by city employees.
"While we acted quickly to restrict TIF dollars administratively, we now seek to institute those controls in law," Rollo said in a statement.
The proposed restrictions are aimed at regulating the legal controls the city's Redevelopment Commission has over the TIF dollars.
The proposed ordinance prohibits the RDC from approving blanket funding resolutions, funding resolutions without a set end date and funding resolutions that aren't specifically connected to a contract or agreement with an approved vendor.
Kruzan and Rollo say these types of controls are necessary given the "unique characteristics" of tax increment financing.